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Rootstime (Belgium)

(rough translation of Belgian review)

Steve Dawson is a producer, singer- songwriter and guitarist. He is from Vancouver, Canada, but moved to Nashville, TN. Dawson is the producer of albums by Jim Byrnes , Kelly Joe Phelps , " Old Man " Luedecke , "The Sojourners " and " The Deep Dark Woods " . To further increase the workload is what Dawson also the fiery flame under the “Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Project " , in which he collaborates with Madeleine Peyroux , Bruce Cockburn , John Hammond and others . On top of this session work and touring Dawson also finds time to record. Own work as an artist Dawson won two Juno awards and five other Juno for his work as a producer himself...

The new album from Steve Dawson “Rattlesnake Cage " is an acoustic , instrumental , solo guitar album . On the album you can hear Dawson communicate with his guitar, without a word being spoken. The album is unique because Dawson did not previously in a studio. Steve Dawson knows most of his albums sung or an accidental exclusive acoustic solo act for a smaller party. Dawson is in this album back to the old American primitive sound that artists like Peter Lang, Leo Kottke and John Fahey in the '60s recordings in this known iconic Takoma Records ' label. [' Takoma Records was a small but very influential label, which was founded in the autumn of '50 by John Fahey. He named it after his hometown of Takoma Park, Maryland] [John (Aloysius) Fahey (1939-2001) was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer, acoustic steel guitar as a solo instrument played. John Fahey is o.w.v. primitive playing style, described as the founder of the ' American Primitivism ‘. He initially used elements of folk and blues , but was later influenced by the classic Portuguese , Brazilian and Indian music ] Dawson experimenting on this album are known , but often unexpected manner, blues , ragtime , jazz and even short equally with Hawaiian music . The recordings for the album are done with an old microphone tube (tube mic), after having hung years in an old theater in Detroit could be ' saved’. You can use recordings of these microphones, every detail and nuance of every note hear very well. With this album we get the chance to explore the possibilities of the used six or twelve string acoustic guitars.

The title of the opener (also note the other great titles of the tracks!) "Blind Thomas at the Crime Scene” refers to the pseudonym of John Fahey in his early years. This track also provides all of the first chords quite clearly, in what would go with this album and how big is Dawson’s respect for these primitive roots music. Direction Dawson How intensively you listen to songs like " Lighthouse Avenue " or "The Flagpole Skater Laughs From Above " , the sooner you realize that this is indeed music is ' balls ' . Fans of Reverend Gary Davis will certainly recognize the musical analogies, as they listen to the song “At the Altar Center Raven," that from the pulpit evokes an imagined scene, as he did his sermon. This also applies to the tribute to Mississippi John Hurt, “The Medicine Show Comes to Avalon”, which is very sharp looking for a balance between old and new agreements. With “Chunky" Dawson idolized then the swampy scratchy blues slide, which spontaneously ask for more. By Dawson’s fluent guitar playing (read: "finger - lickin 'goodness ‘) all songs sound very relaxed and it is not immediately clear how difficult it is to reach this level. Dawson would not be the musician of many chords, because this is also true: 'less is more ‘.

With the album "Rattlesnake Cage" Steve Dawson, the ' background ' album of the year made ​​. Unobtrusive style, and even at low levels, this remains solo work by its high technical musical qualities, for the critics, an acoustic masterpiece. “Rattlesnake Cage" is an album that refers to all the places where Dawson has been and to all genres of music he has heard. The result is a very diverse collection of favorite vintage songs that perfectly match the personal style of Dawson and his masterful guitar techniques. Steve Dawson gave his latest album, a voice to his guitar and voice to John Fahey, Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Ry Cooder, Mississippi John Hurt ... for everyone!